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Glazfelli Hegemony
The Glazfelli Hegemony is the domain of the Frosten people, incorporating the direct holdings of the house of Daan and its vassals, the Kingdom of Stolok and the Kingdom of the Iron Doctrine. A former vassal was the Holy Kingdom of Sycia, which later became independent. Military For more details see Army of the Glazfell Hegemony The Glazfell Hegemony is effectively a feudal structure consisting of a kingship and several duchies rather than a singular nation, and thus the composition of its army varies based on the preferences of the Dukes conscripting parts of it. There are some standards in place regarding individual companies and qualifications to maintain cohesion, however. In general, Glazfell's armies favor both light and heavy infantry in addition to a set of specialists, with little cavalry to speak of. To oppose enemy cavalry, they usually make use of massed Suri rather than Lancers. Enemy infantry are typically walled off by Royal Men-at-Arms backed by a line of Suri and pelted with javelins and arrows from slightly further back. As might be implied by these two tactics, Glazfelli warfare relies heavily on careful formations of disciplined soldiery rather than individual combat prowess. The Hegemony does not demand universal compulsory military service among its people, but any noble is permitted to conscript commoners if the size of their guard is below the standards set by the king. Generally this standard is three-thousand men per duchy. While more forces can be raised, doing so requires explicit permission from the King or a Grand Duke. Most conscripts are men thanks to cultural bias, with the notable exception of Frosskov's more-or-less egalitarian selection. Officers are chosen from the nobility, though the requirements here are lax: Military service is very popular among bastard sons and even daughters, as any noble blood is sufficient. Settlements Duchy of Glazfell Saenord-Konig is the Royal Fortress, shaped from ice, fixed in stone, and draped with silk and gold. It is located only a few hours' travel from the City of Glazkopf. It is naturally a fief of the King, who is of House Daan. Nebelrief is a city in Western Glazfell noted for its spring beauty: When the ice melts in Sycia and the fog rolls in from the east, it quickly freezes to form a soft rime and attaches to anything in sight as it crosses into the ever-chilling Glazfell. This means that each spring, every tree and clothesline in Nebelrief gains a fuzzy coating of tiny, spiky ice crystals. While the city produces a modest supply of hunters and meat on its own, its true lifeblood is trade and tourism: It controls the only safe land route into Sycia's Frozen Peaks, meaning that much of Glazfell's vegetable (and Pegasus) supply is taxed by the town along with the Bronze and Silk caravans that are sent to Sycia in turn. Nebelrief is ruled by a Count, and controlled by the House of Senroth. Psilberg is a Barony near Mount Etta in northeastern Glazfell. It contains no city, but it does control three outlying villages and the small town of Psilberg itself, sitting on a terrace along Etta's pass. It is small but wealthy, as it has a stranglehold on the pass allowing trade with the Sympol territories and the valuable True Ice coming in from the North. Psilberg's Barons come from the minor but ambitious (and occasionally blooded) House of Blutod. Glazkopf is the Capital City of the Glazfelli Hegemony, located in the southeastern quarter of Glazfell, near Saenord-Konig and the Bronze Citadel. With almost 40,000 citizens, it is easily the largest city in the Duchy of Glazfell, though it is not the largest in the Hegemony. Most of its income arises from the Bronze mines in close proximity to it, as well as the source of the fabled Tears of Yphine not far to the northwest. Glazkopf is the social and political center of the Northeast, or so the Glazfelli would claim, and they might not even be wrong. Glazkopf is directly overseen by a council of five Grand Burghers, but is officially ruled by the Duke of Glazfell, a title which is itself held by the House Daan. Duchy of Estglaz Being larger in size and more habitable than the main Glazfell, the Estglaz contains many smaller villages and baronies in its hinterlands, lending to a more distributed population. There are only two notable cities present, smaller than the ones in the Glazfell. The first of these is Haskvell, located at the edge of the Glazfelli-Estglazi border, nestled into a valley before the pass. The city is known mainly for its economic importance, as it has control over Estglaz's outlet to the Silk Road and its hinterlands contain much of the Estglaz' resources. The city has its own county, and the titles are held by the "traditional" branch of House Cordelia. The other major city, Skarre, is located less than a day's travel from the Scarrel's Basin, toward the south-center of the region, though in fact Scarrel's basin is named for Skarre's inhabitants rather than the other way around. The city's importance is economic, cultural, and political: Skarre is controlled by the House of Senroth, and represents their homeland and strongest territorial region. Given Senroth's sway in the Hegemony and its ambition, this alone tends to attract many political and social aspirants. Further, the city is known for its social and artistic elite, which also tends to attract aspirants. Of course, that's merely the cultivated image appearing within the noble houses and upper classes. Down in the actual streets, the citizens of Skarre (often called Scarrels for convenience) are fairly poorly-treated, and have a bad reputation for being rowdy and hot-tempered despite the typically cool Frosten demeanor. Skarre is the political center of the Estglaz, and is thus ruled by a Duke from the House of Senroth. Duchy of Skarval Skarval's population centers are decentralized, with only Deihaus standing out among them as notable. Perhaps appropriately, it is the capital of the Duchy built upon three rivers and next to a dozen stone quarries. It hosts a huge farmers' market in which citizens from all over Skarval (and even occasionally Frosskov) come to hawk their wares at passers-by. Deihaus is ruled by a Duke, the title of which is controlled firmly by House Pamari. Though smaller baronies controlled by other houses pepper Skarval's landscape and bring in most of the vaunted herbs, Pamari's hold on Deihaus gives them effective dominion over the region. Duchy of Frosskov Volfsdin is a major city located within spitting distance of the Wolf's Den, as perhaps evidenced by its name. Most of the population unsurprisingly consists of Werewolves given the makeup of the area, but the city's outer reaches are more diverse with populations of Frosten and Catfolk as well. It's a major trade nexus, located near the center of Frosskov (and thus rather close to the center of the Hegemony in its entirety), and its woodsmen produce the bulk of Frosskov's usable wood. Volfsdin is ruled by a Count, whose title is controlled by an offshoot of the House of Daan. Spinnesdrall is the duchy's capital, despite being smaller than Volfsdin in terms of sheer population. Its importance is mainly economic, though: Spinnesdrall and its outlying villages lie upon the borders of the Riespinn Forest, and they produce virtually all of the Glazfelli silk that exists on the market. The city's population is mainly Catfolk with smaller subcommunities of Frosten and Werewolves. Spinnesdrall is ruled by a Duke, the title of which is controlled by the "deviant" branch of House Cordelia. Duchy of Drugaud Situated under the lonely mountain of Emohesab, Shezhan is a sprawling metropolis, and at 75,000 citizens is the largest single city in the Glazfelli Hegemony and quite possibly the world. It is also notable in that it is the only population center of note in the entirety of Drugaud: Virtually all other communities in the region are nomadic, and comprise only a small part of Drugaud's population anyway. Shezhan is often considered to be the intellectual capital of the Glazfelli Hegemony due to its philosophical and surreptitious traditions. Additionally, due to its previous status as an absorbed sovereign state rather than a set of leading factions converted into noble houses, it is sometimes treated as if it actually were a second capital. The city was until recently almost completely isolated from the outside world and almost more folklore than reality, but old records surfaced suggesting that the House Alexia was ancestrally connected to House Daan, and the sovereign territory of Drugaud became a duchy under the Glazfelli Hegemony after a push by the latter. Duchy of Haiwaste The premier population center of Haiwaste used to be the City of Poel, but it was near the border with the Orcish territories. During the Orcish invasion, Poel was hit hard by the horde and many refugees flocked westward to escape the battle lines. The population of Haiwaste is now well-spread into many towns and villages, with Poel remaining a 'city' only in name. The Duchy is governed from Saenord-Hai by a council of Burghers under common law, rather than ruled by a proper Duke. Noble Houses House Daan Despite its miniscule size, House Daan has been the ruling house of Glazfell since its founding, and that did not change when the Glazfelli expanded their reach to several neighboring regions and established Hegemony. The name of the house comes from Lord Hafdaan, its most significant progenitor. House Daan has only two notable holdings beyond kingship, with the title of Duke of Glazfell (and technical though not practical control of Glazkopf, the capital city) and County of Volfsdin. House Daan, after a certain incident, also gained full control of the properties of House Senroth. House Senroth House Senroth was a large and worryingly powerful noble house best known for its patronage of the arts and less-well-known for its plotting and merciless ambition. It was generally considered to be the strongest non-ruling house around, despite having slightly less holdings than House Cordelia, as it was generally unified where Cordelia is factionalized. The house's sway is dangerous, and it might even have been behind the violence in the Estglaz before Hroar solidified his hold. Senroth held titles as the Duke of Skarre and Count of Nebelrief, as well as several baronies in Frosskov, Estglaz, and Glazfell. However, after an incident involving the marriage of Duke Senroth's second son to King Ghalle and an assassination attempt, the Duke and his firstborn son were strangled to death and their lands fell to House Daan. House Cordelia House Cordelia was once more or less inconsequential despite their surprising wealth, controlling only a small set of baronies near Glazkopf. However, when King Hroar announced his wave of expansion that culminated in the absorption of Estglaz, Frosskov, and Skarval, House Cordelia was the first to invest additional resources and was ultimately instrumental in the project. Whether by reward or by opportunism, they successfully gained control of the Duchy of Spinnesdrall and the County of Haskvell, two very important territories. Further, they expanded their baronial holdings across the entire Hegemony, with the singular exception of Drugaud, with more land than even the mighty House Senroth, Cordelia enjoyed a short period of dominance before something really strange happened: The Duke of Spinnesdrall married a Catfolk. Who somehow bore him pure Catfolk children, despite the fact that such a thing should be impossible. Not willing to accept that his wife might not have been entirely faithful, the Duke denied any such claims until his death by falling a few years later. The title proceeded to fall into a now fully-Catfolk family claiming the name of House Cordelia, resulting in a schism between the "traditional" branch in Haskvell and these "deviants" in Spinnesdrall. Legally they are one and the same, but this is not true in practice. The modern "deviant" branch is almost all Catfolk now, and retains control over the Duchy of Frosskov. The Count of Haskvell, who is the head of the "traditional" branch, maintains that the Duchess is a usurper to his claim on the same title, and feuds break out fairly regularly in cities where members of both family branches reside.http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=19053124&postcount=827 House Alexia House Alexia is a small noble house from the lineage of Duchess Alexia the Heron. While the House was once simply sovereign ruler of the territory that became Drugaud, it was absorbed in ducal vassalage to the Glazfelli Hegemony through cultural and political absorption. Luckily, the transition was ultimately peaceful: House Alexia retained effective control of Shezhan and thus Drugaud. Though Alexia now answered to the ruling House Daan, its privileges and laws were maintained. At the moment, House Alexia does not appear to be particularly ambitious, though this hasn't stopped some from worrying. After all, every member of the house is Tieflin or Skarvali, notorious schemers that they are: How would you even know if they were plotting against you? House Alexia's holdings are limited to Drugaud, but it has such a strong grip there that no other noble house has been able to establish so much as a barony there. House Pamari House Pamari was once a minor Estglazi house, but managed to form a strong hold over Skarval while Houses Cordelia and Senroth were busy further north. The house is still minor by comparison to the larger ducal houses, but they remain significant nonetheless. House Pamari holds the city of Deihaus, and thus the Duke of Skarval is one of theirs. They also hold baronies in Skarval and Frosskov. House Blutod House Blutod is a minor house, controlling only the town of Psilberg and its surrounding territories. They do, however, control the one profitable trade route to Sympolemou, the primary source of the much-desired True Ice, which brings them untold wealth and power. While their strength is curbed by simple lack of resources and titles, they nevertheless hold much sway simply by virtue of controlling the True Ice trade, and thus most other Glazfelli trade by extension.http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=17512176&postcount=2 References Category:Realms Category:Great Kingdoms Category:Empires Category:Empires of Telluris